DescribingSpokenEnglish TV pdf DESCRIBING SPOKEN ENGLISH An introduction Charles W Kreidler 396311n0% Also available as a printed book see fifle verso for ISBN details Describing Spoken English “This[.]
Describing Spoken English “This excellent book offers unmatched coverage of all aspects of English pronunciation, including stress and intonation.” Larry Trask, University of Sussex Describing Spoken English provides a practical and descriptive introduction to the pronunciation of contemporary English It requires no prior knowledge of phonetics or phonology Charles W.Kreidler examines the main varieties of English in the world today He focuses on the elements common to all native-speaker varieties of English and presents the differences as minor variations on a theme The book is divided into twelve chapters which cover the following subjects: • • • • • • • • • • • • speech production principles of phonological analysis consonants the vowel systems of different varieties of the language syllable structure strong and weak syllables phonological processes in connected speech stress in simple words and compounds tone units and utterances the role of accent in discourse intonation and rhythm the interrelations of morphology and phonology Each topic is presented in an accessible, jargon-free style Chapters are clearly structured, with summaries, bibliographies, and exercises to encourage active participation This textbook will be essential reading for undergraduate and post-graduate students of English language and linguistics Charles W.Kreidler is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University His publications include The Dynamics of Language (1971) and The Pronunciation of English (1989) LONDON AND NEW YORK An introduction Charles W.Kreidler ROUTLEDGE Describing Spoken English First published 1997 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002 Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1997 Charles W.Kreidler All rights reserved No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Kreidler, Charles W., 1924– Describing spoken English: an introduction/Charles Kreidler Includes bibliographical references and index English language—Spoken English English language— Variation Linguistics I Title PE1074.8.K74 1997 421'.52—dc20 96–9601 ISBN 0-415-15094-9 (hbk) ISBN 0-415-15095-7 (pbk) ISBN 0-203-13501-6 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-20372-0 (Glassbook Format) For Carol Preface Symbols and typographic conventions xi xii The pronunciation of English 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Dialects English outside of England Differences and commonalities Plan of this book Speech 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 The nature of sound Speech Consonants Vowels Syllables and prosodic features The structure of language 3.1 3.2 3.3 Units of language Knowing one’s native language Phonemes 13 14 16 18 26 29 33 34 37 39 Contents Contents CONTENTS English consonants 4.1 4.2 Distinctive features Consonant allophones 50 56 English vowels 65 5.1 5.2 5.3 Dialect differences A general inventory of vowels Vowel inventories of specific English dialects Syllables 6.1 6.2 6.3 The structure of a syllable Consonants in clusters Inflections Strong and weak syllables 7.1 7.2 7.3 Accent and stress Weak syllables Variation in weak syllables Word stress 8.1 8.2 8.3 The phonological structure of words: stress patterns The morphological structure of words Rules for stress in simple words Stress in compound words and phrases 143 Noun phrases and noun compounds Adjective and adverb constructions Compounds in phrases and larger compounds Verb phrases and verb compounds 144 149 152 154 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 viii 49 66 69 80 85 87 90 96 101 102 109 112 123 124 130 135 CONTENTS 10 The role of accent in discourse 10.1 The structure of a tone unit 10.2 Tonality 10.3 Tonicity 11 Intonation 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 161 162 164 166 177 Paralanguage Intonations of the simple tone unit Low and high onsets Compound tunes 178 180 186 187 12 Morphemes that vary in form 195 12.1 Phonologically conditioned alternations 12.2 Morphological conditioning 12.3 Another past tense suffix 197 200 206 Feedback on exercises Bibliography Index 212 225 231 ix This is a description of present-day English pronunciation It aims to describe the principal native-speaker varieties of English, showing the phonological elements shared by all varieties of the language and setting out specific differences against a framework of commonality The book is intended to be a text for undergraduate and postgraduate students whose field of study includes linguistics and/or English language, and for those who are preparing to teach English as a second or foreign language It should be useful to both native speakers and those who have acquired the language through formal instruction I assume no previous knowledge of phonetic description or phonological principles, which are introduced in the second and third chapters, respectively I have tried to make the book a useful tool for learning by providing an abundance of data words, phrases, sentences—and exercises that call on students to participate continually in the development of topics, mainly by leading them to examine their own pronunciation I am grateful to anonymous readers of the manuscript for valuable suggestions and to the staff of Routledge for their expert care in turning the manuscript into a book Responsibility for the contents rests with me, of course C.W.K Preface Preface Symbols and typographic conventions Every academic discipline has its own technical terminology, and a book like this one also requires special symbols to indicate features of the spoken language The terms and symbols used in this text are explained as they are introduced, but an overall account of them here may be useful All technical terms appear in bold type when they first occur or are discussed in detail, and all are listed in the Index To describe pronunciation we need examples of utterances, relatively short, meaningful stretches of speech that have been produced or might be produced by some speaker of English and understood by other speakers of the language Such utterances appear frequently in this text and are always within double quotation marks (“…”) In addition, we often cite words, phrases, and sentences that illustrate some particular point These are in italics when they are part of the running text—part of a paragraph—but are in ordinary type when they appear in columns apart from the running text Chapter 2, introducing the elements of phonetics, uses the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet for speech sounds, each symbol enclosed in square brackets In Chapter 3, dealing with the sound system of English, the IPA symbols, somewhat modified, appear within slant lines to indicate the phonemes of English Chapter introduces twenty-four key words, each of which has a different vowel and stands for all the words that might contain that vowel These are in small capitals (CHICK, STEP, BAT, etc.) xii SYMBOLS AND TYPOGRAPHIC CONVENTIONS In Chapter we also introduce the use of acute (´) and grave (`) accent marks over vowel letters to indicate different degrees of syllable prominence Beginning with Chapter arrows, ↑ and ↓, are used to show rising and falling intonation, respectively Chapter 11 introduces more diacritics for intonation: ß for a short rise, for a short fall, circumflex (∧) for rise-fall, caron (∨) for fall-rise, and a small raised circle (o) for high onset xiii